Remote sensing of the movement of drilling equipment can provide useful information to oil and gas industry professionals. For example, remote sensing of longitudinal movement of the drill string can be correlated to provide the distance from the bottom of the drill string to the well bottom. Currently there is no effective remote sensing of drilling equipment measurement, and practically the measurement is done manually by measuring and counting the drill pipes or by estimating the displacement of the drill pipe indirectly from the top-drive movement. If an error occurs and a drill pipe segment is missed, it may lead to catastrophic consequences such as the drill string hitting the bottom of the well.